


A New Friend

by AshWinterGray



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Gen, Good Parent Jim "Chief" Hopper, Happy Eleven | Jane Hopper, Hurt Steve Harrington, Men Crying, Protective Eleven | Jane Hopper, Protective Party, Sick Steve Harrington, Steve Harrington Needs a Hug, husky - Freeform, i like puppies, puppy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-20
Updated: 2018-12-20
Packaged: 2019-09-23 18:04:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17085119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshWinterGray/pseuds/AshWinterGray
Summary: It had been nice that afternoon. Not perfect, but nice. There were grey clouds about, but it was nearly winter, so that was normal. Steve hadn’t thought anything about the weather when he first went into the mall for work. He had walked after all. Of course, it was as he was preparing to leave that it had to start pouring. Of course. The universe just seemed to have it out for him lately. He had closed too, so there wasn’t anyone he could ask to take him home. Not that anyone would have agreed to it anyways except the kids. But the kids had school, and work had been slow. Because it was fall, and no one wanted ice cream when it was cold outside.





	A New Friend

            It had been nice that afternoon. Not perfect, but nice. There were grey clouds about, but it was nearly winter, so that was normal. Steve hadn’t thought anything about the weather when he first went into the mall for work. He had walked after all. Of course, it was as he was preparing to leave that it had to start pouring. Of course. The universe just seemed to have it out for him lately. He had closed too, so there wasn’t anyone he could ask to take him home. Not that anyone would have agreed to it anyways except the kids. But the kids had school, and work had been slow. Because it was fall, and no one wanted ice cream when it was cold outside.

            So, in the cold rain at nearly nine o’clock at night, Steve walked home. He was going to get sick. It had been nice this morning when he left for work, and now it was cold and wet. With a sigh, Steve let himself trudge along, not really caring about the rain anymore. It all too perfectly depicted his mood as of late.

            That was when he heard it. A desperate, whining sound. Spinning around a bit, Steve all but dove onto the street as he grabbed the small creature. It was a dog, a soaking wet little puppy that was tangled in a plastic bag and being pulled into the sewers of Hawkins. It had to be maybe a few months old as it fit in Steve’s palm.

            “Hey little guy,” Steve cooed as he tried to shield it from the rain. “Hey. It’s okay. I got you.”

            And Steve was just lonely enough to take the dog home and not to the shelter.

            He gave the puppy, very much a boy, a shower in his sink, fearing that the dog would drown in the tub. The puppy, it seemed was very eager to explore his new house, and Steve took a shower himself as the puppy explored the new space.

            The puppy was sitting on the couch when Steve came down, instantly perking up as Steve came in.

            “Hey buddy,” Steve smiled as the puppy jumped off the couch and ran small circles in between Steve’s legs. “Hey. What’s wrong?”

            The puppy yipped, wagging its fluffy tail at Steve happily. Steve would need to figure out what type of dog this was. But first.

            “Do you want a name?” Steve asked, crouching to meet the puppy.

            The puppy yipped and licked Steve’s nose.

            “Alright,” Steve hummed, looking about the room. “What to call you?”

            Steve was terrible at naming things. He should never be allowed to name things. Why was he doing this? What on Earth possessed him to adopt a dog off the streets? What was he thinking?”

            “Sprite,” Steve decided, noticing an empty Sprite can on the couch side table. “I’m going to call you Sprite.”

            The puppy, now dubbed Sprite, yipped excitedly.

\------------------------------------------

            Sprite was Steve’s own little secret. It took forever to potty train the puppy and let alone figure out what the dog would eat. He went through six different types of dog foods before he found one Sprite would eat. But each day, when Steve came home, Sprite would cuddle with him and make him feel better about his life.

            Sprite turned out to be a beautiful, fluffy, white husky that loved to cuddle. The dog quickly learned not yip to loudly, and that his new friend needed attention as much as he did. Even on days when Steve didn’t want to interact with Sprite, Sprite was persistent. Steve would always cry into Sprite’s fur on those days.

            Sprite was his secret. Until Hopper approached him after work.

            “Need a ride?” Hopper hummed, motioning to his truck.

            And, yeah, Steve did need a ride. He’d walked again, and it was definitely colder. Steve nodded.

            “You haven’t been driving much recently,” Hopper muttered.

            “Save’s money,” Steve muttered softly.

            His parents had cut him off when he didn’t get into any good colleges. Which meant Steve couldn’t afford to go to any college. He was lucky he hadn’t been kicked out yet. Though he expected it sometime soon. He spent most of his money he earned on food. Hopper seemed to know this.

            “You can always come to the cabin,” Hopper said, “if _it_ happens.”

            The “if” was nice, but they both knew it was going to happen. Probably the next time his parents came home. Which was supposed to be soon.

            “Can’t leave Sprite,” Steve mumbled.

            “Who?” Hopper questioned.

            Steve shrank further in on himself as they pulled up to the house. Steve’s BMW sat in the driveway, waiting for a use that would never come. Hopper got out with Steve as soon as he heard barking. The moment Steve had the front door opened, Hopper watched as a fluffy mass bounded into Steve’s arms.

            “He was drowning,” Steve spoke softly, clutching the dog close. “It was raining really hard a few months ago and he was drowning. I couldn’t leave him, so I took him home. He’s my friend.”

            Hopper frowned and stepped forward, placing a hand to Steve’s forehead.

            “Oh, kid,” Steve sighed as he pulled his hand back. “Why didn’t you say something?”

            “People don’t like dogs,” Steve muttered, burying his face in Sprite’s fur.

            That wasn’t what Hopper was talking about. No, Steve was running a rather high fever. Hopper watched as Steve broke down in tears in the dog’s fur. He watched as the dog licked Steve’s face, trying to comfort his friend. And Hopper found himself carrying the two back to the car before heading back into the house.

\--------------------

            Steve woke up to a typical TV laugh track. His head was pounding, and there was a weight on his chest and a weight on his side. Forcing his eyes open, Steve saw Sprite watching the TV with El. Which had Steve confused because this was not his TV. Nor was it his couch he had been sleeping on. And this certainly wasn’t his house.

            “Hopper said you needed to take these,” El hummed as pills and water levitated over.

            Steve held Sprite back by his snout as he took the pills. Then Sprite was licking his face happily as Steve laughed.

            “You are sick,” El hummed when Sprite finally stopped and turned back to the TV. “Hopper and I get to take care of you.”

            Sprite yipped.

            “Sprite is helping too,” El beamed and fluffed the dog’s fur.

            Sprite yipped a bit more and curled into Steve’s chest. Steve took to running his hand through Sprite’s fur. Hopper walked inside a few minutes later, duffle bag in hand one hand, and blankets in the other.

            “You’ve got a good dog there,” Hopper smiled as he scratched Sprite’s head. “He’s well trained and really loyal.”

            “He’s a smart boy,” Steve cooed, to which Sprite yipped.

            Hopper smiled for a bit, but then Steve began to hack and cough. This had become normal for Steve, he was used to it. Sprite was too. But Hopper’s smile was gone, and El looked way too worried.

            “Steve,” Hopper pressed gently. “How long have you been sick?”

            Steve shrugged. “Since I got Sprite,” he muttered. He felt exhausted. “Had to walk in the rain. My boss makes me work long hours. Wouldn’t let me take off sick either.”

            Hopper jerked at that. “Steve?”

            “Had to keep working anyways,” Steve kept mumbling. “Needed the money. I get paid less. Talked to Robin, my co-worker. Says she gets paid more. So I work hard. Work long hours with no breaks. Sleep when I get home and after I take care of Sprite.”

            “Steve,” Hopper pressed again. “When was the last time you ate?”

            Steve hummed softly. “Four days ago.”

            Hopper was throwing his coat back on and marching to the door. “Make him, soup El,” he ordered quickly. “You know that recipe Joyce taught you, and make sure he eats as much as he can. Keep the bucket close, because it may come back up.”

            “Need to feed Sprite,” Steve muttered as he tried to stand up.

            Hopper was across the room. “El can feed Sprite. I got the dog food from you house. It’ll be fine Steve. Just sleep and get some food in you. Okay, buddy?”

            Steve nodded already drifting off. And Hopper was out the door. Yelling into his radio.

            Robin and several other of Steve’s co-workers were in there when Hopper finally arrived. He had to grab a few books from the library to double check a few things. He decided to question them all at once.

            “Tell me about your boss?” Hopper said firmly

            The look in Robin’s eyes should she knew where this was going as she quickly gave Hopper all the information he needed. The co-workers, once they realized they had free reign to speak, were quick to join Robin in describing some of the unjust thing their boss did. By the end of the talk, Powell and Callahan were off to arrest the manager of Scoops-Ahoy! for abuse. The main company for the ice cream was called and they apologized to Hopper. Hopper was more than willing to give them a piece of their mind in explaining how one of their employees was dying because of their manager.

            Flo told him he should sue, loud enough for the people on the other end to hear. Hopper could practically hear the person on the other end pale as he called for the guy actually in charge. The guy in charge, a rather nice guy named Henry, was completely scandalized by everything Hopper said and promised to personally come down and visit Steve to check his condition. Hopper was honestly considering suing.

            By the time Hopper was done, he was just ready to crash, but he knew Steve needed him. He felt bad for leaving El alone. But there were several cars parked outside Hopper’s cabin, and the entire monster hunting party was present.

            “Needed help,” El said as she let Hopper in by hand.

            And Hopper nodded kissing her forehead as he went to where Jonathan, Will, and Mike were setting up a make-shift bed near Jane’s bedroom door. Max was rubbing Steve’s back as he had clearly thrown up just seconds ago. Joyce was by Steve’s side too, whispering soft, comforting words to the boy as he dry heaved. Dustin and Lucas were trying to wash bits of throw-up out of Sprite’s fur, who didn’t seem to mind the bath, but clearly wanted to be with his friends. Nancy was soaking some towels and sticking them in the freezer to place on Steve’s head. She even had a pot boiling with a hot pad for later.

            “Help is good,” Hopper nodded. “Help is really good.”

            “He needs to go to the hospital,” Joyce said, still running a hand through Steve’s hair. “This is bad Hop, he might have pneumonia.”

            “Can’t,” Steve shook his head, still gagging on nothing. “Can’t go to the hospital. Don’t have insurance. And I don’t have enough money.”

            “I’ll pay,” Hopper told Steve softly. “I can afford it Steve.”

            Steve shook his head. “No,” Steve muttered. “Can’t let you. Been nice already. Don’t want to be a burden.”

            Hopper, and everyone else, frowned. “You don’t get a say anymore.”

            Steve did indeed have pneumonia, much to everyone’s worry. They kept Steve overnight, and he spent the rest of the following day sleeping and cuddling Sprite. The head guy for Scoops-Ahoy! did come by and was absolutely scandalized by Steve’s mental and physical state. They had to quarantine the small ice cream place because Steve had been so sick. Steve got a rather large check to compensate for the theft that occurred for not getting paid minimum wage. And he wasn’t even paid for all his hours either, so the check was practically doubled. Hopper was pretty sure Flo threatened to sue if they didn’t fix things.

            Steve was so far out of it with all the meds and his illness that Hopper barely got Steve’s banking information out of him to go and cash the check. He chose not to touch Steve’s new-found money and used his own to buy Steve’s medicine and Sprite’s food. Joyce and several of the other moms were set on making food for the Hopper family until Steve got better, which was nice. The kids even pitched in their arcade money to buy Sprite a few dog toys. Steve could never afford any.

            The other best part was that Steve’s job would be waiting for him when he got back. The new manager was a former employee who had worked with Steve on several occasions and had promised to keep the job open if Steve wanted. This man was far kinder, Hopper made sure of that.

\---------------------------

            It took one week for a drugged up, completely sick and dying, Steve to finally make coherent sentences again. It took two weeks for Steve to sit up. And it took three weeks for Steve to be able to get out of bed. He wasn’t cured, not be a long shot, but he was getting there.

            Sprite, much to everyone’s surprise, was extremely loyal to his friend. He hardly left Steve side.

            “You’re such a good boy,” Hopper found Steve cooing as he got home from work. “Yes you are. You’re such a good boy. My good boy.”

            Sprite yipped and jumped off the bed, disappearing into Hopper’s room. Hopper was more than surprised when Sprite brought back perfectly intact slippers.

            “You have to tell him he’s a good boy,” El insisted with a firm look.

            Hopper nodded as he reached down to scratch Sprite’s head. “He’s a very good boy.”

            Sprite yipped happily, licked Hopper’s hand, and went back to settle on Steve’s lap.

            “Steve and I taught Sprite to fetch,” El beamed as she pulled a casserole that Karen had made from the oven. “He’s a very good boy.”

            Steve nodded as he buried his face in Sprite’s fur. And Hopper had to wonder when the last time Steve felt this carefree was. Sprite had clearly done Steve a world of good.

            “Why don’t we go to the park tomorrow,” Hopper hummed out as he helped El dish out the casserole. “Sprite clearly needs to get outside more, and the fresh air would do you some good, Steve. You can come too, El.”

            And the overall excitement had Hopper smiling too. But the best part was Sprite’s excitement as Hopper placed a new collar around the dog’s neck.

            The park actually went well. El wanted to explore every inch but stayed close to Hopper and Steve. Steve walked around a bit before he got tired and just took to watching. And Sprite was beyond excited to be meeting new people who loved to pet him.

            All in all, it was a good day.

            It was the following day that was bad. They let Sprite outside, like they normally did. Only this time, Sprite didn’t come back. Hopper, El, the kids, and Steve searched for hours before Hopper had to call it quits. The kids had curfews. Hopper kept looking for Sprite though, putting up posters and other signs. They found Sprite’s collar near the road a few days later.

            Steve just got worse. He had been doing so well too. The phenomena was going away. But now Steve was getting worse. He wouldn’t eat, he cried at night, they had to force him to drink water and take baths. His temperature kept spiking too. They had to take Steve to the doctor again after a week and even the doctors were worried.

            After nearly a week and a half, El donned the blindfold. She nearly broke the windows again at what she found.

            Hopper crashed a teenage party that day, startling several people, including Jonathan and Nancy. Tommy H. was arrested for animal abuse after Hopper pulled a very battered Sprite from the boy’s basement. His parents denied all knowledge of the animal, though Hopper suspected otherwise. He didn’t have proof though. He could only arrest Tommy, who got bail.

            Hopper had to take Sprite to the vet first, make sure the dog wasn’t going to die. He wasn’t, but he was going to be in a lot of pain for a while. Steve sobbed for hours into Sprite’s fur the moment the two were reunited. And Sprite just licked Steve’s face.

\------------------------

            Both Steve and Sprite got better, and Steve went back to work with better hours and pay. The two friends were also set to stay at the cabin, on much arguing from Steve and Hopper. Steve clearly lost. As for Sprite, he enjoyed keeping El company until she could officially be introduced into the world. And as they agreed to homeschool El, Sprite often accompanied her into town. No one dared hurt Sprite after that either, and Tommy H. made sure to stay away. Hopper suspected El had something to do with that. He had no proof though.


End file.
